1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an image processing method and an image processing system for carrying out image processing on image data according to the content of the processing described by a sensation expression such as “sharp” or “soft”, and also to a computer-readable recording medium storing a program to cause a computer to execute the processing in the image processing system.
2. Description of the Related Art
A printing service for generating postcards, calendars, T-shirts and the like using photographs obtained by a user has been known. In such a service, a negative film or a print deposited by a user is digitized in a laboratory and printing is carried out after image processing desired by the user is carried out. As the image processing in this case, layout determination, trimming, and combining the image with characters, as well as tone processing, color conversion processing and the like can be listed. In order to carry out such processing as the user wishes, the following method has been known. In this method, the image data obtained in the laboratory are provided to the user and the user carries out desired image processing on his/her personal computer by using predetermined software, while viewing the image. The content of the image processing is recorded in a recording medium or transferred to the laboratory via a network, and the laboratory carries out the processing on the image data, based on the content of the processing generated by the user. At this time, in order to exchange the image data, a large-capacity recording medium such as an MO disc or a ZIP disc is used. In order to exchange image data via a general recording medium such as an FD, a printing method in which image data at a low resolution are provided to a user and image data at a high resolution are processed only in a laboratory has been proposed (Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 10(1998)-200730).
Meanwhile, an impression of an image can be expressed by using a sensation expression such as “sharp”, “soft”, “warm”, and “cold”. In this case, in order to search a plurality of images for a desired image corresponding to a sensation expression, a search apparatus has been proposed (Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 9(1997)-114853). In this apparatus, a plurality of images are related to characteristic values representing the content of processing based on sensation expressions of the images and recorded therein. The characteristic value corresponding to the user's sensation expression is calculated based on the sensation expression, and the image is searched for according to the characteristic value having been calculated.
In the printing method described above, users wish to carry out image processing for changing impressions of images according to sensation expressions such as “sharp”, “soft” and “bright”. In this case, an image on which image processing according to a sensation expression has been carried out can be obtained. As has been described in Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 9(1997)-114853, images and the characteristic values are related to each other and correspondence between a sensation expression and the content of image processing represented by the sensation expression is found. According to the content of the image processing having been found, the processing is carried out on image data. Furthermore, as in a method described in Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 10 (1998)-200730, the content of the image processing corresponding to the sensation expression may be transferred to a laboratory so that printing is carried out after the processing is carried out on image data.
However, an impression of an image is different between output media such as a monitor of a personal computer owned by a user and a print generated in a laboratory, even if image processing according to the same sensation expression has been carried out on the image. For example, a monitor is a medium using light emission and a print is a medium using light reflection. Therefore, an impression of an image becomes different between the two media, even if the same image processing has been carried out on the image. Furthermore, even if the same image processing has been carried out, a glossy print looks sharp while a print on matt photographic paper looks soft. Moreover, the impression of an image is different between viewers and between environments in which the image is viewed.